'Unprecedented' level of violence in Mexico: FBI

Yahoo ^ | 4/6/11 | AFP

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Using unusually blunt language, FBI Director Robert Mueller told US legislators on Capitol Hill Wednesday that there is an "unprecedented" level of violence in Mexico linked to the country's drug wars.

"I would not call it a full-scale war," Mueller told members of the House of Representatives as he discussed his agency's 2012 budget.

"I would say there are full-scale warring factions that utilize homicide as a mechanism of retaliation, staking out one's turf, retribution, that have contributed substantially to the number of deaths in Mexico," Mueller said.

There have been some 35,000 homicides in the past four years, Mueller said.

"I think it's fair to say that it's unprecedented," he said. "The last couple of years, I think, have been particularly bad."

The frank words are uncommon for a senior US official: the US ambassador to Mexico resigned in March after Mexican President Felipe Calderon said diplomatic cables written by the envoy -- in which he depicted the Mexican military leadership as unprepared for the war on drugs -- damaged bilateral ties.

And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in September had to back off of comments that the Mexican drug cartels "are showing more and more indices of insurgencies," and that the country is "looking more and more like Colombia looked 20 years ago, when the narcotraffickers controlled certain parts of the country."

Even though the Mexican military and police "have undertaken substantial efforts" to address the violence, "it's certainly not under control at this point," Mueller said.

[dragnet2]

I believe that is about the same level as Afghnistan or even Libya.

Hmmm

Does that include the estimated 4 million Americans who have now been victims of crime by those invading our country....Which includes victims of fraud, those run over, shot, robbed, knifed, beaten, carjacked, murdered, raped, those burglarized, common theft, vandalism, ID theft, kidnapped, home invasions, etc....

[fr_freak]

My sis and BIL were addicts. I’ve seen firsthand the destruction drugs can do to children abandoned by drug addicted parents.

You are very naive if you think that marijuana was the only drug that your sis and BIL were doing. That was probably the only one they would admit to. They probably kept the coke and meth under wraps so as not to appear too far gone.

[SatinDoll]

fr_freak — I’m far from naive. You need to update your knowledge.

Recently, a group of French medical researchers published a report on the connection between schizophrenia and marijuana.

The connection between using marijuana and developing psychosis is known to American researchers, too. See:

What doubles the risk of developing psychosis?

http://www.amenclinics.com/blog/tag/marijuana/

My sis has used marijuana for four decades and was briefly addicted to heroin. No matter how much rehab she has undergone, she has never been able to break her marijuana habit. That is an addiction in anyone’s book, and the holes in her brain prove the dangers of marijuana. She used to be a nice person; how she verbally and physically assaults people she says she loves, and she doesn’t understand why she does so.

BIL was a heroin addict for nearly three decades (doesn’t like marijuana) and is an alcoholic who is dying of Hep C.

I’ve reared their son for 15 years. Poor kid has had to deal with the fact his stoner parents abandoned him for drugs. That’s the problem with addictive drugs - they are God to the addict and ruin other people’s lives as well.

[Envisioning]

Unfortunately the United States is also a failed nation...and Mexico is invading the US.

Let's invade them back.

Take over their economy, create industry, jobs and security and they will flock back faster than they came here along with some Americans probably.

[ought-six]

“Our grandchildren are in for something totally different than the America we knew and loved.”

That’s a fact.

[fanfan]

I'm very sorry about your sister.

Nothing is harmless when you really think about it. I guess everyone decides which risks they want to take, for the perceived reward.

[fr_freak]

Sounds like you've had a tough time watching them self-destruct. I'm truly sorry to hear that. However, by your own admission, each was doing drugs other than marijuana. That's makes it difficult if not impossible to determine which drug did what damage, or caused what behavioral changes.

With regards to the study you are citing, there is the correlation/causation problem which is not addressed:

The other study from an Australian team found that people who smoked marijuana developed psychotic symptoms 2.7 years earlier than people who weren’t pot-smokers.

Here we have a case where the question must be asked, "Which came first, the desire to smoke marijuana to alleviate mental health issues, or mental health issues that arose from marijuana smoking?" In this study, it is easy to see how people with existing mental health issues would have taken to pot sooner than those without mental health issues, and that would skew the data.

Now, let's be clear here: I would never say that pot smoking is good for you. No sane person would. Obviously, marijuana is going to have some kind of negative effect on a person. There is a lot of supposition and hysteria that replaces good science on the subject, unfortunately. Alcohol is not good for you, either. Why isn't alcohol banned? It was once, so why did we stop? If you look at the issues surrounding Prohibition, and why we stopped, they would darn near be identical to the issues we see with the War on Drugs now, and yet we reject as insane and fringe the idea that we should take the same approach?

[SatinDoll]

I drink two glasses of red wine a day, with the approval of my doctor. It has been verified to be beneficial to one’s health and best of all, it is LEGAL. Illegal drugs are illegal for a reason — the use ruins not just the lives of those who use, but of everyone else around them.

Smoking anything at all is not healthy, period. Marijuana for medicinal use is available in derivative form for medicinal use, but cannot provide a ‘high’. So all the excuses about how it is necessary for medical reasons is a bunch of crap.

Oh, no; old stoners can’t have that capsule without the high! The whole reason for the legalization of drugs is to get stoned, no matter the social or personal health reasons.

I’ve noticed that the people on Free Republic calling for legalization of drugs talk as though no one else in the world matters to them. Why so self-centered? This attitude is not healthy.